Archive for February, 2010

Conference registration for the 103rd AALL Annual Meeting and Conference in Denver, to be held July 10-13, is now open. New this year, nonmembers who register for the Program and Full Registration packages now receive a complimentary one-year AALL membership for 2010-2011. Join us in Denver, and join AALL!

R. David Lankes will be this year’s keynote speaker at the Opening General Session on Sunday, July 11. Lankes is director of the Information Institute of Syracuse, an associate professor in Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies, and director of the library science program for the school. Lankes is a passionate advocate for libraries and their essential role in today’s society, and he has resolved to “make 2010 the year of the librarian—not the library.”

The theme of the Legislative Advocacy Training at the Annual Meeting is “Raising the Bar in Your State.” You won’t want to miss this year’s half-day session that will be held on Saturday, July 10, from 8:30 a.m.-12 p.m. It will focus on two very important AALL state initiatives: first, how to prove the value to state officials of our public law libraries that are threatened with budget cuts, and even closure; and second, to discuss the progress and challenges of AALL’s state working groups being formed to increase support for the authentication and preservation of online legal information in every state. The training is free for AALL members and members of our chapters. Please contact Emily Feldman (efeldman@aall.org) by June 1 to reserve your spot.

To continue AALL’s efforts to provide a more eco-friendly Annual Meeting, we will no longer print and mail a Preliminary Program. Instead, we are proud to announce a new look for the Annual Meeting homepage. With easy navigation buttons, this robust site will provide you with all of the information you need to connect to this year’s meeting. You can register to attend, make hotel and travel reservations, search for programs and meetings, design your own personal schedule, see who’s exhibiting, or just spend some time experiencing Denver on the Local Arrangements Committee homepage. Going “green” has never looked better!

The current economic downturn combined with the cost of real estate has created a new set of challenges for law firm librarians who are planning and re-designing library space. Turning those challenges into success requires knowledge of how the library space fits into the firm’s strategic plan. Using that knowledge and working with an experienced law firm space designer/architect can enable you to develop a creative and comprehensive approach to your library’s redesign and gain acceptance from firm management.

Join the AALL webinar, Library Space: Planning for the Future on March 17, from 11 a.m.-12 p.m. (CST), and hear from an architect specializing in law firm design discuss current trends and provide examples of the impact of technology on library space planning. Two librarians will discuss the space planning challenges they faced and the methodologies they found useful. Their experience will help participants evaluate design variations for main office or branch office locations.